Whispers
by Tragoedia
Summary: Life is good for Sarah, or at least as good as it can be after being in the Labyrinth. 18 years old and in her last year of high school, Sarah is ready to move on with her life. Little does she know that the past is coming back for her. JS
1. Within Your Eyes

**Disclaimer: Labyrinth doesn't belong to me, I'll just say that, despite the fact that I wish it did. So, if you're planning to sue me, you'd better have a good reason!**

**Author's Note**: Rated PG-13 just in case things get a little more dark, including swearing, suggestive scenes and whatnot. Though now those seemed to be rated PG. Where has our DIGNITY gone! Alright, I'm done. Hope you all enjoy the fan fiction, and be sure to comment if you do, so that I'll know if you want me to continue.

'We go forward, we go back,' An ethereal voice whispered in her ear, as Sarah Williams snapped up from her deep slumber, glancing around as her skin crawled. Nothing. Only the light tapping of a gnarled tree branch swatting against her window made a sound, matched in rhythm with the harsh beating of her own heart. The same words had been spoken to her every night for almost three weeks now, in the same eerie voice. Though, before the dream could take its course, she was jerked back into reality, by one thing or another. "Why can't I see further?"Sarah asked no one in particular, brushing away a fresh coating of sweat that had began to form at her hairline. Every night, the voice altered slightly, as though different parts of her subconscious were trying to send a signal. Though one voice mattered, and one voice only. _His._

"Snap out of it, Sarah," She outwardly berated herself, feeling much like a lost and confused child, who had been left alone to fend for herself. It had all been a dream, from the very beginning. Her whole **life** had been a dream, or more appropriately, a nightmare. The line between her fantasy world and reality was so horribly obscured, that Sarah could never figure out the difference. Of course, you'd think, typical girl fantasizing about a cruel and overpowering man who offered his love freely to her, practically on a silver platter. No, it wasn't that way at all, quite the opposite really, the very thought of him bringing a fresh wave of chills down her spine. Even after the long four years since their meeting, his face still hovered in the back of her mind, wanting to force itself back into her daily thoughts, though Sarah just couldn't allow it. 'You're an idiot to have believed that story in the first place, just forget about it and go back to bed,' She thought bitterly, slumping back down into the soft concaved surface of her bed covers and drifting off into a hazy half-sleep.

Maybe the voices were just reminding her how much she missed her younger brother, Toby, who had been granted the opportunity to attend a school for gifted young children, something that both Karen and her father had become ecstatic about, saying things like 'Toby's a gifted child, success! At least one of them turned out,' Followed by a rather smarmy wink in Sarah's direction. In some corner of her mind, she knew that they were partially serious, but neither parties would admit to any such favoritism. 'Less thinking, more sleeping,' She thought, hanging on the edge of sleep, only to find herself awoken by the crude sound of an alarm clock, otherwise known as Karen.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head!" Her seemingly merry voice rang throughout the entire house, followed by irritated grumbles and groans from both her father at one end of the house, and Sarah, who glanced over at the blinking red numbers on the clock, wondering how time had passed so quickly. Of course, during summer, staying up until four AM thinking about life wasn't a big deal, but now, insomnia plagued her, as did the oncoming morning that one day threatened to kill her.

"Daaaamn," Sarah mumbled softly, rolling onto her back as the sound of Karen's footsteps neared the outside of her door. It was only the second week of school, and already Sarah wished that she didn't have to go. Honestly! Hatred of school wasn't supposed to happen at least until exams rolled around, and you found yourself swimming in a pool of homework and failing grades.

A soft knock echoed at the door, asking for entrance. But before Sarah could even respond with an angry (and not to mention mature) 'I don't want to go to school today,' Karen had let herself in, grinning broadly and almost sashaying over to the small window on the opposite wall from her bed. With one swift motion, she flung the curtains open, as the fresh sunlight poured in, lightening her dim room and highlighting every inch.

"If you were trying to make me go blind, mission accomplished," Sarah groaned tiredly, turning over so that her front was smothered in blankets, trying to hide from the creeping sunlight. Karen, of course, was feeling more than bouncy today, skipping over to where Sarah lay hiding, and tossing the covers off of her, and pulling away the pillows. With a small hiss muffled from the mattress, the teen eventually gave up and jumped out of bed, glaring at her stepmother the entire time.

"It's just such a wonderful day! You should walk to school with your friends ... Auburn and James?" Karen asked enthusiastically, causing Sarah to absent-mindedly wonder if she had accidentally began smoking something. If she began to see pretty colors, it would be the first sign.

"Aubrey and Jamie," Sarah corrected her, stifling a laugh. It was really beyond her, the fact that over the years, Karen and Sarah had become friendly towards one another (despite the occasional argument or catfight) almost like a real mother and daughter.

"Come down for breakfast in five, I have things cooking as we speak." Then, without another jaunty word, Karen strode off into the hallway, and disappeared down the flight of stairs, each step creaking as she stepped on them, telling secrets of everything in the house.

"Mental ... she's freaking mental." Sarah let out a small chuckle before carefully running her hand along the disturbed covers of her bed. Ten and a half minutes later (exactly), she was ready for school, too bad that class actually started in ten minutes, but that was just a minor detail. After all, in her final year of high school, supposedly when the slacking began, and Sarah was just another prime example of a typical grade 12 teenager. Set out on the worn wooden table were plates of pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast, bagels, and pretty much every other breakfast food you could imagine, along with a tall glass of frosty orange juice. "Thanks, Karen, but I'm really not that hungry," she sighed regretfully. Glancing up at the dejected look on her stepmother's face, Sarah snatched up a pancake and stuck part of it in her mouth, which dangled as she spoke. "Juss fer yoo," Sarah said through a mouthful of pancake, waving goodbye before walking out the front door, onto the empty sidewalk.

Glancing around the formerly buzzing street, Sarah hoped to see signs of either Aubrey or Jamie, though it would have seemed that they'd left without her. Then, a little voice whispered a reminder. 'Next time you're late, we're leaving without you,' Jamie had said in a teasing voice, her eyes laughing. Of course, at that time, Sarah hadn't taken her seriously, but now, it had become a sad truth.

Twenty minutes later, Sarah arrived at the front doors of her high school, rushing in, her stomach cramped from running along the street, face flushed a deep crimson. The clock read exactly 9:15 as she burst in through the double doors and surveyed all around her. Only a few slacking students were in the halls, so Sarah immediately ran down the right hallway and tried to walk in casually to her homeroom. "Sorry ... Mr. Whyte," She gasped, feeling the ability to breathe finally return to her. "Something came up this morning at home," Lie. If 'Something came up at home,' really meant, 'I was too lazy to get to school this morning,' then perhaps he would've looked like he'd believed her.

"Ah, I see we have a volunteer then!" Mr. Whyte said approvingly to Sarah, looking around at the rest of the class with amusement. Clearly he had been talking about something before she arrived, and now, as a punishment, she would have to do whatever assignment this was. "And you, Mr. Scott, you can accompany your friend," Pointing a stubby hand towards Aubrey, he suppressed a laugh, motioning for both of them to leave the classroom.

"Wait, what's going o-" Sarah began, before being pushed out of the classroom by Aubrey, who looked slightly miserable, bordering on depressed. "Did I get you in trouble?" She asked, the blush in her face now fading, replaced by the original ivory pallor of her skin.

"Nah, but you volunteered me to help you guide a new student around the school, we're supposed to get **him** down at the office," Aubrey grimaced, his accentuation of the word him causing Sarah to snort with laughter. Running a hand through her deep chestnut locks, she found herself becoming relaxed again. Something about Aubrey always tended to do that for both Jamie and Sarah, as though he could fix any problem, or change any bad situation into a good one. Even after years of being his friend though, Sarah wondered why he didn't just ditch them to hang out with his flock of admiring followers, who seemed plastered to his side. After all, he was, sorry, used to be rather popular, and still was in some respects ... and well, Sarah and Jamie just weren't. 'Ah well, c'est la vie,' Sarah thought, grinning inwardly.

"So I see you were hoping that it was of the female species?" She continued to look at him with eyes full of laughter. How like Aubrey to immediately hope for a girl transfer, another addition to his group. Pointing an accusing finger at him, Sarah feigned a serious look, "Womanizer!" she cried, perhaps a little more loudly than anticipated, but it got her point across. Changing the subject briefly, Sarah spoke with a small grin. "Maybe he'll be cute, and then we'll fall madly in love, and run away to get married after our tragic relationship. Like Romeo and Juliet, only minus the death." Walking up to the office, Aubrey turned the handle and opened it.

"After you, milady." He smirked, watching her enter the office and following in shortly after. She turned around to face Aubrey and stuck her tongue out, before the new student came into view. He followed behind her quietly and glanced up at the new student. 'He isn't _that _good looking.' Aubrey thought somewhat bitterly, staring up and down the student to size him up. Why was Sarah acting so strangely? Her entire posture had seized up, as she stood frozen on the spot.

"Oh shit," she cursed under her breath, turning back to look at Aubrey, who had a mixture of confusion and amusement on his face. Instant recognition flooded her, as the same spiked blond hair, different colored irises and dominating stature came back into her mind. Though, he looked much less like he had, and more like an average teen ... except for the fact that he wasn't. Biting down on her lip, Sarah felt a familiar pang of metallic blood hit her tongue, having bitten down a little too much. She was shaking slightly, feeling suddenly weak in the knees, as though she would collapse any moment. With one weak gesture towards him, Sarah spoke softly.

"Jareth?"

**Author's Note: **Oh ... man. My first ever chapter of my first ever Labyrinth story, and I really don't know about it. Honestly, I do have a plot! But it'll take a little bit to unfold completely. So if you want me to keep writing chapters and whatnot, please comment, because otherwise I'll figure that you all despise it, and there will be no point in me continuing.

Thanks Laura, Pammy and Bryan for giving me your opinions and fixing all of my simple errors, I really appreciate all the help I can get.

So remember, comment, and I'll keep going. Or maybe I'll keep going even if you don't comment, we'll just have to find out now, won't we?

One thing I can assure you though, things are never as they appear, and though this may seem like a typical J/S fan fiction, you'll (hopefully) be surprised.


	2. No Escape

_**Whispers  
**No Escape_

_**Disclaimer:** You've seen them all before, but just so that I don't get charged (this would be a very bad thing, you see) Labyrinth doesn't belong to me. The only things that do are my own characters. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. _

_**Author's Note:** Oh ... man, I cannot even thank you guys enough for all the wonderful reviews, it just made my week. You deserve a proper tribute down after the chapter! _

_Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to my sister, Kelsey, for getting me candy during my horrible strain of writer's block. _

"Jareth?"

That voice. The slight fear that lay on the edge of each syllable gave him the shivers; it was the same feeling he had experienced the first night of meeting her, when she couldn't help but quiver in his presence. 'The good old days,' he thought, a subtle smirk twitching at the corners of his thin lips. His mismatched eyes stayed focused on Sarah, cold and emotionless, but on the inside, he was anything but. Though she had changed a fair bit on the outside, her entire aura remained the same; like that of a frightened little girl, though she was most definitely not a little girl anymore. How odd they must have looked, standing there in their own little world, hardly noticing the people hurrying by.

Aubrey looked as though his brain might explode if he attempted to think any harder about what was going on, eyebrows creased downwards, glaring at the new boy. 'What on earth could make Sarah act so strangely? He's just a nicely dressed, completely gorgeous and mysterious new student,' Aubrey thought, before realizing what he had just been thinking about. 'Right, stop acting like an idiot.' Thank goodness that nobody could hear his inner monologue, or else the situation would have become a tad bit more uncomfortable than it already was.

Bottom lip shaking slightly, Sarah refused to allow herself to be torn to shreds by the presence of the Goblin King. After all, this wasn't his world; he had no power over her here, or anywhere else. Though, from the confident smirk appearing on his face, she could tell that he was enjoying her sudden lapse of strength.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah asked, her voice cold and demanding, matching the icy glaze covering her normally warm chestnut eyes. However, in response to her question, he was so bold as to ignore her completely, not having said a single word to Sarah in the span of five minutes. Instead, he glanced over to Aubrey and sniffed derisively, hoping to stare him down.

Not bothering to look directly at Sarah, Jareth kept his attention focused on her friend and replied. "I'm going to school, what do you think?" Of course, when it came to the Goblin King, nothing was quite that simple, but his words remained light and careless.

Their gazes were locked, Jareth's stare seeming to penetrate Aubrey's very soul, rendering him dazed as he attempted to look away. All that he could see ahead of him was the blank stare, though it wasn't frightening to Aubrey. Instead, he just blinked a few times slowly, acting as though he had just awoken from a deep sleep, and narrowed his eyes towards Jareth. "Do you have Heterochromia Iridium?" he asked suddenly, noticing the difference in each orb. Being talented in the science department, Aubrey had a tendency to remember every condition known to mankind, though this was rare.

Though he didn't know what it meant, Jareth nodded slowly, relieved to see the boy relax. "I've never heard that term before ... what does it mean?" Jareth asked warily, the lilting accent dangling on the tip of his tongue, threading its way into every word he spoke.

Puffing out his chest, Aubrey found himself grinning broadly. Advantage number one, he knew more than Mr. Tall Dark Handsome over here.

"Oh, it's just a rare condition, which involves having different levels of melanin in each eye, causing both eyes to be a different color from each other," he explained quickly, making rapid hand motions, almost smacking one of the secretaries in the head. With a single condescending smile, Aubrey glanced from Jareth to Sarah, noting the fact that she was still looking at the new student in a state of shock.

"I suppose you two will be showing me around, then?" Jareth broke the silence hanging over them, still smirking to himself in a way that suggested he knew much more than he was letting on. Brushing a spider-like hand through a tuft of sunlit blond hair, he passed over his school schedule with the other hand to Aubrey, eyes shifting towards Sarah in the meantime.

It took every ounce of self-control she possessed to look away from Jareth, averting her eyes to the ground, which had suddenly become much more interesting than everything else in the room. Such a pity that she wasn't at all stealthy in her actions.

"Look Sarah, he's in our Biology, Math, and English classes." Pointing to the schedule, Aubrey ran a finger down it, stopping to show each individual class, Sarah's stomach sinking with every typed character she read. "Oh, and he's in your Drama class as well." Just fan-bloody-tastic, the one place where Sarah felt she could escape the harsh grasp of reality and jump into a new character, here she was; about to be subjected to Jareth in four of her school classes. If anyone ever said that school was the worst place on earth, they honestly had no idea. How could Aubrey be acting so excited? It was almost like he had stuck a nice sharp dagger through her heart, or given her a friendly heart palpitation.

"Great," she said in a less than enthusiastic voice, both of her deep brown eyes focused on a stain in the ancient carpet, hardly listening to any words being exchanged. 'Why is he back here ...?' she repeated the question to herself, feeling borderline sick to her stomach. Knowing Jareth, it wasn't something so simple as 'going to school,' oh no, it would be something involving drama and many soap-opera moments that Sarah found sickening. If only she could figure out what was going on ...

"Sarah," came the soft voice of Aubrey, who was looking her way in a concerned manner, a lanky arm outstretched, his hand cupped around her right arm. "You alright?"

With all of her might, Sarah wanted to scream 'No, I'm not alright! The one person I haven't stopped thinking about for four years has finally reappeared, and he's in my DRAMA class. I'm ready to hit myself over the head with my books and hope that I never wake up.' But, of course, being the level-headed girl that she was, Sarah responded only with a simple, "I'm fine," before smiling falsely and leading the way out of the office, hoping that she'd feel better once stepping out into some less crowded quarters.

Without another word, both Aubrey and Jareth followed her out, her best friend confused, while Jareth had to restrain a cold laugh. 'I don't even need to command your fear anymore, Sarah, it comes freely,' he thought to himself, walking a few steps behind the pair, observing every small move they made with his acute eyes. She would find out why he came soon enough, he knew that much for sure. Sarah continued to lengthen her strides down the hall, head up, eyes forward, stopping only when they reached the homeroom, where she figured Jareth could go and make a bunch of new friends, leaving her out of it. She was sadly mistaken, of course, for as soon as she opened the classroom door, all eyes were on her, and all hopes of sneaking out were crushed.

"Ah, Miss Williams, you decided to join us again." Mr. Whyte's voice was quite cold, especially for someone who could look so jaunty. She could never understand what was with teachers and sudden moody changes in attitude; they were almost as bad as teenagers. "All of you," he barked, "take your seats so that we can all just get this torture over with, and you can go off to your first classes. Sarah and Aubrey, I expect you to look after our new student for the next little while." Of course, with this, Sarah just grumbled and took an empty desk, Jareth and Aubrey filing in on either side of her. 'Thanks a lot, Mr. Whyte, making my day _that _much better,' Sarah thought, tossing her sheet of chocolate brown hair behind her and skillfully tying it up in a messy ponytail, just so it didn't fall into her face.

She could feel both boys watching her curiously, as though, by some strange occurrence, she was going to sprout wings and begin spewing out poisonous gas. Since that was not likely to happen, she could just sigh, resting her head down on the wooden desk and pretending to fall asleep.

'_You chose this path ...'_ the same bodiless voice that haunted her dream whispered, as Sarah's head snapped up from the desk, only to find the vast majority of the class looking in her direction. Carefully avoiding the gazes that were focused on her, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks, Sarah just set her chin on her hands and waited patiently for the bell to sound, signaling her short span of freedom. Glancing over to her right, Sarah noted that Jareth had ceased watching her; instead he was sparking up a seemingly interesting conversation with a girl in front of him. Even with his slight change of appearance, Jareth was still the same in her eyes, in every manner. It wasn't until Jareth turned to face her, that Sarah realized she was gawking at him, and obviously he noticed this as well.

"Jealous, are we?" he asked, his lips curling upwards into a grin, referring to the fact that he had been talking to another girl.

Before Sarah could even snap back to reality, she began shouting, standing up from her desk and pointing a finger directly in Jareth's pointed face. "I can't even BELIEVE you!" she began, the blood pumping through her veins as her heart beat faster. "You're an insufferable pig! The whole world DOESN'T revolve around you, and I certainly _don't_ give a damn about what you do!" Perhaps if she hadn't been so angry, Sarah would've noticed the astounded looks on everyone's faces as she continued to yell at the new kid. "Just get out of my life!"

With that, Sarah stormed down the row between desks and walked out the door, slamming it behind her. Rounding the corner and stepping carefully down the hallway, she vaguely heard the sound of a door opening and closing. 'Probably Mr. Whyte coming to tell me that I've been suspended for yelling at a new student,' she figured, stopping in the hall to open her locker. 6-23-15, the numbers rotated on the small silver lock, opening with a small click as she tore it off and flung open the metallic door. Inside were a bunch of books, notepads, and most importantly, her journal ... oh, and school stuff, but that wasn't important.

"Sarah?" came a soft voice from down the hall, the sound of footsteps getting louder as they neared her locker. Without a response, Sarah proceeded to grab her books and journal from the locker, shutting it quietly and slinging the bag over her shoulder, prepared to leave without a word to anyone. Taking off at a quick pace, she completely bypassed the oncoming person, keeping her head tilted downwards at least until she reached the front doors. "Sarah." The voice called out again, and she couldn't help but recognize it.

With her hand lightly touching the door, Sarah stood there impatiently as the footsteps caught up with her, walking up from behind. Not bothering to turn around, she spoke coldly, her throbbing head threatening to burst if she was put through any more of this bullshit. "What is it, Jareth?" Nothing in her voice could be mistaken even remotely for kindness or warmth, her words sharp and cutting. "No, you know what, I don't even care. I'm leaving." Sarah decided quickly that there was no point in even continuing this conversation, since it would only lead to misunderstanding. Not to mention a wicked migraine.

"You can't escape me, Sarah," Jareth sounded much more like he had four years ago, overconfident and commanding. His words echoed through her skull, and finally she whipped around to face him, her cheeks flushed with silent fury.

"We'll see." And with that, she walked out of the school, going wherever her feet decided to take her at that point. It really didn't matter anymore ...

**Author's Note ... again: **_All of my reviewers kick so much ass, and I love you all already. The praise I got from some almost made me cry of happiness, because I've written so many lousy fanfics with horrible reviews, and so finally I have GOOD reviews, and it's just like ... wow. _

_Please do keep reviewing, I appreciate it so much, and it lets me know what you guys like. _

_After all, the customer is always right ;) _


	3. One Step Forward, One Step Back

_**Whispers**_

_One Step Forward, One Step Back_

_**Disclaimer: **Meh, same as the previous two chapters, nothing new here. I'll probably end up introducing some new characters and such, but they obviously belong to me. If you plan on suing me, you might end up with a spoon shoved in your eye, so watch me go. _

_**Author's Note:**_ _Just me again, 'cause I'm teh coolest. Bad spelling and all, y'dig? Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, they honestly warm my heart and make me happy inside. Thanks to all my friends, too, for inspiring me to continue and whatnot. Shout out to Megs, you party sponge mongoose, you._

_Spread the love._

_

* * *

_

All he could do was stand there, alone in the front lobby of the unfamiliar school, watching as Sarah swayed her hips angrily, storming off down the street. Was he being unnecessarily cruel? Perhaps. Though, in Jareth's vocabulary, 'cruel' took on a much more vicious meaning. This was merely toying with her, an activity that had become rather stimulating, even over the short span of fifteen minutes or so.

"She deserves it," he growled softly to nothing but the passing breeze, eyes following the ever-shrinking figure of Sarah, until she disappeared completely from view. She hadn't changed, it would seem; still the same frightened little girl, naïve and stubborn, who constantly complained about life and its twists and turns. Though over the past few years, Jareth himself could have been accused of doing the exact same thing, especially because of the ever true fact that life _wasn't _fair. Who knew? As though a breeze picked up, Jareth's hair rustled softly, the silver highlights dancing through it like a fish.

'_You have no power over me ...' _Those words still struck a powerful chord deep within him. Though they had no meaning in this situation, the fact that she had actually **believed **such a pitiful thing caused him to chuckle softly. 'I think you'll find, Sarah, that I have a lot more power over you than you assume,' he thought, a grin twisting across his angular face. She had asked him why he was here, and although Jareth proceeded to give a very nonchalant answer, he didn't quite know himself. Revenge was a possibility, as it was _always _a possibility. Love? Doubtful. He had lusted for her in a time long past, but that was over, swept away in the changing tides. If you had asked Jareth how he felt after she first walked into his life, the answer would have been much different than now. Yes, he thought that it was love.

Though, how can one love with a heart of stone?

* * *

Hair thrown about angrily with each step she took, Sarah's face grew increasingly red, probably a close indicator to how incredibly frustrated she felt. Sure, she may have acted childish in the classroom, but what the hell gave Jareth the right to come STROLLING back into her life suddenly? Not only that, but now, he was attending her school. 'Breaths, deep breaths,' she reminded herself slowly, the pace of her footsteps returning to normal as well. Normally, when unexpected, downright lousy things like this happened, Sarah would be the last one to react. But oh no, not this time. This time it hit her directly in the stomach, and Jareth knew it. Green eyes sparking with silent anger, Sarah turned her head upwards to look at the clouds ... anything to keep her mind off of what she had just been through. Why did he pick now to come back and pay a little visit? After all, recently Sarah had found herself feeling alright with everything for the first time in her life.

She had known that he survived from their last encounter. That much was obvious. It was almost as though she had been able to feel the slight glow of his presence in the back of her mind, something that she found both reassuring, and deeply frightening at the exact same time. Never, not once, had Sarah stopped believing in what happened those four years ago. People outgrew things like fairy tales and fantasy, but not her. Sure, Sarah had Aubrey to depend on ... sometimes, but he was always busy entertaining the idea of having six or seven girls madly in love with him, instead paying attention to her problems and worries. That's why her friends in the Underground had played such an important role in her life. No matter how tough things became, Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo always seemed ready to listen and help Sarah to the best of their abilities. Possibly even Jareth had, in his own special way, helped Sarah get over the things in her life that she may not have overcome alone.

It wasn't more than about five minutes until Sarah found a small patch of forest, deserted of course, to collect her thoughts in. As soon as she set foot into the small grove, it was as though all the hustle and bustle of the city just melted away, leaving her alone with all the problems swarming around in her head. Such a pity that life couldn't just be turned off for moments at a time.

_What a pity ..._

'Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Williams,' a voice inside of her snapped sharply, returning Sarah to her state of unease. 'This is your fault to begin with, you can't blame anyone else but yourself.' Damn. And she was looking _so _forward to playing the blame game with Jareth, Aubrey, and anyone else who dared cross her path. Maybe if she was lucky, he would just get bored and ... leave her alone? Yeah. Right. Who was she kidding? Jareth quitting torture was just about as likely as Aubrey being gay, possibly even less likely. For once, Sarah was skipping school. Normally when people brought up skipping, when referring to her, it was followed by load, sarcastic waves of, 'Gasp, shock, horror!' That just about said it all. Karen was going to flip, right along with her father, the principal, her teachers, and half the student population. Greeeeat.

It wasn't that much to ask, right? Passing math class. Check. Successfully not snagging a boyfriend in three years. Double check. Living a normal life. Yeah right. Sarah having a normal life was just about as unlikely as her getting a date to the prom. And for those who didn't already know, that was going to be next to impossible.

Sure, she wasn't bad looking ... she hoped. Though it seemed to be true that your own perception of yourself is completely different than someone else. In that case, Sarah didn't want to find out how everyone at school and around town saw her. Maybe she was like the ugly duckling from that old children's story, who goes from awkward and ugly, to beautiful and graceful, something that she hoped for every day. Insecurities, something that Sarah seemed to be full of. If they did a documentary on how people perceived her, it would've gone probably something like this.

_Random Student #1: Oh yeah, that Sarah chick. She's whacked out, y'know? All zoned out and quoting poetry and books. _

_Random Student#2: She's way weird. Probably a lesbian or something ... or in a cult. _

_Random Student #1: Dude, lesbians are hot. She's not hot enough to be a lesbian. _

_Random Student #2: Sorry dude, you're right. _

And thus ended the strange workings of Sarah William's mind. Shaking her head slightly from side to side, watching as a few tangled locks fell out of her loose ponytail, she pulled a small leather-bound notebook out from the pocket of her jeans and cracked open the musty cover. Inside, she was able to distinguish slightly faded words lining each page, some of her own, and some of the previous owner, whoever that had been. It had sort of been like her little diary, though without the incriminating details especially handy for blackmail. God knows, Toby had tried. No, it was just something for little notes about her life, perhaps a good quote that she'd heard, or a song lyric ... maybe even a book title.

With a short, stubby pencil, Sarah wrote only four words down on a new piece of paper, diagonally across the page.

_Why is he back?_

* * *

'_Why am I back?' _he asked himself thoughtfully ... even though Jareth was still sure that he knew the answer. He always knew. Though, walking down the empty hallway back to the classroom, he actually felt confused for the first time in his life. What an awful feeling. And with that, Jareth swore never to feel confused again, though he doubted that it would be possible with what was happening around him. Taking a step inside the buzzing classroom, he turned his head towards Mr. Whyte, and with a shrug, said, "Sorry, sir, I couldn't find her." It was clear that the old fool bought his slight lie, accepting it, and returning to his lazy position. 'Dear God, why did I have to go to school. It would have been so much easier to just torment Sarah from afar.'

Unexpectedly, a sharp bell rang, followed by the loud shouting of "Go to class, and don't be late!" from the front of the room. Three guesses as to who it was. Or not. Walking out the same door he had just entered a moment ago, Jareth stood in the hall momentarily, feeling groups of students brush past him at every angle. Surprising how even during school, people could be rushing by in such a panic. Idiots. Breaking free of the bond that surrounded him, Jareth sauntered off towards his locker, or ... the place that should've been the locker. Of course, without a lock on it, there wasn't much point. So instead, he hoisted the small bag up onto his shoulders and stalked off towards the entrance of the school, another shrill burst of ringing reaching his ears. 'To hell with this, I'm leaving,' he figured, pushing the front doors open silently and walking outside, leaving the dreary school behind him. School would be over in four hours anyway, nobody would miss him at all. Perhaps Jareth would even be lucky enough to not have to go back every single day to that hell hole.

To his surprise, he heard the soft voice of someone from far behind him, turning around to see a shape moving quickly in his direction. "Hey, wait up!" the voice called, nearing Jareth as he stood on the sidewalk impatiently. The shadow quickly took form, revealing Aubrey running towards him. 'Oh joy,' he thought, pondering whether to walk away or just stay and listen. "Hey, Jareth, I guess you have a spare block, too," he asked, slightly out of breath. "Maybe we should go search for Sarah, since we have all this extra time?"

'Of course, because the only thing better than that would be slicing my body with rusty razor blades, then taking a small dip in a bath of lemon juice and iodine. What fun.' But being the kind, caring person he was, Jareth decided not to voice such a thought. "Yes, we probably should, who knows what kind of trouble that girl has gotten herself into," he spoke rather tiredly, as though it had been expected of her. "I don't really know my way around town, so perhaps you should lead the way." Well that was pathetic. Maybe he should have just asked Aubrey if he could hold his hand, too.

"This isn't the first time she's skipped class to run off." Aubrey glanced over at Jareth with a knowing smirk, his gray eyes cloudy, giving the impression of deep thought. "Actually, she's done it more times than I can count on two hands, so I've given up. Sarah's a free spirit, and the man isn't going to bring her down."

"The man?" Jareth asked with slight amusement, relaxing now that he felt more comfortable around the strange boy. "Oh, right," he covered, after receiving a very strange look from Aubrey. 'Note to self, find out who the hell this 'man' is.' Of course, now was not the time to be pondering about such meaningless things, there were other things that Jareth could be wasting his time on instead. The soft clicks of his newly polished shoes were dulled by the roar of passing cars, each one seeming more loud and obnoxious than the last.

It would seem that after about ten minutes, the two boys had given up hope, until a flash of raven hair caught Jareth's eyes. At first, he wondered if they would be better off to just forget about finding her. Especially because of the fact that his head hurt just thinking about how she acted towards him, not the most refreshing situation to be in. Pity that Aubrey seemed to have followed his gaze, his eyes lighting up at the sight of his familiar comrade. "Sarah!" Aubrey called out, hoping to catch her attention before the distance between them grew any larger. "Sarah, back here!" But, to no avail. She seemed intent on keeping her nose buried in a book of some sorts, nothing new there, annoying as it may have been.

'Perhaps,' Jareth thought, 'She'll respond to me, whether that's a good or bad thing, I don't know.' Either Sarah was purposely ignoring the two of them, or she was more of a bookworm than he has assumed at first. "Sarah," rang the crisp, polished sound of his voice through the mild wind. Just as he had first suspected, her head began to turn around. Then, as she seemed to recognize the voice, her face was once again pressed into the book. "Maybe we should run," he suggested, although the tone of his voice said something more along the lines of 'Why bother.' After all, if she wasn't going to make this easy, he would play the same game. That's how it went between them, wasn't it? "Yes, that's right, just walk away, Sarah. You do that so well," he muttered under his breath, just low enough that Aubrey wouldn't be able to catch any of it.

'Why can't they just leave me alone?' Sarah wondered to herself, quickening her steps to gain that extra distance from Jareth and Aubrey. If that lovesick couple hadn't asked Sarah to leave their 'special spot', perhaps she'd still have a nice, peaceful place to sit. Of course, now she was reduced to wandering the streets with a book in her face, narrowly avoiding several pedestrians sharing the sidewalk. At least she knew the streets like the back of her hand, allowing her to not bother looking where she was walking. If people really wanted to walk ... they would just have to learn to avoid Sarah. Using one free hand, she held the back of her hair down against the crown of her head, the wind picking up strands, flapping them back on Sarah's face annoyingly. The distorted sound of the two boy's voices still reached her ears, though she chose to ignore them, as she often did while trying to concentrate on a particularly interesting chapter. "A Wrinkle In Time," one of her favorites, even after reading it over a dozen times.

_Did the shadow fall across the moon, or did the moon simply go out, extinguished as abruptly and completely as a candle? There was still the sound of leaves, a terrified, terrifying rushing. All the light was gone. Darkness was complete. Suddenly the wind was gone, and all sound. _

If only all the wind and sound would vanish from her own world. Chapter four, one of her favorites, was just commencing as the faint sound of footsteps still trailed her, their sound growing dimmer and dimmer, just like the moon in the story. Oh, who was she kidding. It was just a book, nothing more. With a small grin, Sarah listened for the sound of oncoming traffic. Nothing. Now it was safe for her to cross, and a road would separate her from Jareth, though it was hardly enough.

Halfway out onto the street, the sudden screech of tires was heard, though it was too late! Snapping her head to the side, Sarah only had enough time to gasp, before everything went black. Only black, no sound.

"Sarah!" Aubrey yelled, running as fast as his legs could carry him to the road. He had seen the entire thing, unable to do anything to prevent it. Kneeling down beside the limp figure of his best friend, Aubrey found himself full of rage. Hatred even, towards the driver of the run-down car. The man had begun to get out of his car, and it was immediately apparent that he was drunk; senses dulled and mind slowed almost to a stop. "Didn't you SEE her?" he screamed at the short, balding man, who had a look on his face that suggested he hadn't seen much for the entire day. "Oh God, we have to get an ambulance. Jareth, take my phone and call 911."

As he was tossed the small gadget, Jareth just held it in his hand for a moment, one eyebrow lifting skyward as he glanced from Sarah and Aubrey, and back to the phone. Perhaps this would work in his advantage if he just left her there to die ... Though, what was the fun of revenge if you weren't able to act it out yourself? Flicking the phone open, Jareth's nimble fingers dialed 9-1-1, placing the cold metal up against his ear. "Yes ... I'd like to report an accident on," he glanced at the street sign, "Tenth and Rosewood, drunk driver I'd assume ... we need an ambulance." Small nods were given to no one in particular as the operator hung up, leaving him only the empty promise that someone would be there soon enough to help her. "Is she hurt?" Jareth asked nonchalantly, tossing the phone back to Aubrey, who now had Sarah's head placed upon his jacket.

"I don't know ..."

**_Author's Note:_ **_Man, I am SO sorry for taking this long to actually post up a new chapter, but school was being a bitch and the teachers decided to give us mundo amounts of homework and projects. Hopefully next time, it'll be up within the week, not three weeks later than I promised. _

_Stay cool! _


End file.
